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The Bradley Manning Trial: Everything You Need to Know

Bradley Manning, the source who provided Wikileaks' most important revelations, is set to go on trial more than three years after his arrest in May 2010. His court martial is set to begin on Monday in Fort Meade, Md., and is expected to last through the summer.

Much has taken place since Manning was detained in Iraq after hacker Adrian Lamo blew the whistle on him.

What Has Happened in Manning's Case So Far?

On Dec. 16, 2011, at Fort Meade, a military investigator held an "article 32" hearing — the military equivalent of preliminary hearings in civilian courts — to decide whether or not Manning's case would go to court martial. For six days, the defense and the prosecution discussed the case, bringing in a series of witnesses (including Lamo). On February 3, 2012, the military investigator determined that Manning would stand trial for all 22 charges brought forth by the U.S. government.

A series of pre-trial hearings ensued following this decision. At the hearings, Manning's defense, led by David E. Coombs, asked Judge Col. Denise Lind to drop all charges against Manning. Coombs argued that during Manning's detention in the marine brig at Quantico, Va., he was subjected to harsh treatment that amounted to "unlawful pre-trial punishment." Manning was held in solitary confinement in a 6-by-8-foot cell for nine months.

In perhaps the most dramatic event since his arrest, Manning took the stand in November to testify to the judge about his treatment in the brig. Months later, a clandestine recording of his testimony was uploaded online.

After listening to testimony from psychiatrists and brig officials, the judge refused to drop the charges against Manning, arguing that his treatment wasn't illegal, excessive or unwarranted. The judge awarded him 112 days of sentencing credit, which will be taken off his final sentence.

Coombs later argued that Manning's right to a speedy trial had been violated, as the trial dragged on for so long. The judge refused this motion attempt as well, arguing that the delays were "reasonable" due to the sheer amount of information and documents involved in the case.

During his testimony, Manning also admitted that he was Wikileaks' source. The defense offered a partial guilty plea, accepting 10 of the lesser charges lodged against him. Manning, however, did not accept the most serious charge, that of "aiding the enemy," which could put him in jail for the rest of his life.

Finally, the judge ruled that Manning's motives for leaking the documents to Wikileaks were irrelevant to whether or not he intentionally broke the law. That decision "leaves him without what otherwise maybe would have been his best defense," says Elizabeth Goitein, the co-director of the New York University School of Law Brennan Center for Justice.

Essentially, this rules out the defense's strategy of portraying Manning as a whistleblower who leaked information for the greater good.

Where Does Manning's Case Stand Now?

According to Goitein, the U.S. government must prove beyond any reasonable doubt that Manning knew disclosing documents to Wikileaks would harm the United States and the country's national security. Goitein believes the government can prove this, since she believes the judge won't require the prosecution to prove "near certainty of drastic harm."

On the other hand, to successfully convince the judge to convict Manning for "aiding the enemy," the prosecutors must prove that Manning knew the leaked documents would reach the enemy. It's hard to know this, Goitein explained, because it's akin to asking: "When somebody gives something to Assange, do they know that it's going to reach Osama bin Laden?"

Thus, to prove its point, the government will bring in a series of witnesses. Some witnesses, such as one of the Navy SEALs that raided bin Laden's compound, will testify in closed sessions.

Goitein is wary of predicting whether the government will be able to prove that Manning effectively "aided the enemy," because "we really don't have any any precedents to look to in terms of how that will play out," she told Mashable.

What Is Manning's Best Hope?

This is probably the hardest question to answer, and it's tough to know what course of action the defense will take before the trial begins. Even though the defense can't technically argue that his actions were motivated by noble intentions, Goitein says, it may be a bit more complicated in practice to "disentangle his subjective motive from what he should have thought or believed." This may be Manning's best hope.

"He does not appear to have intended in any way to harm the U.S. or to give an advantage to a foreign nation," Goitein continues. "The fact that he didn't intend this result may be hard to tease apart from whether he objectively should have believed that that result would occur."

What Will Happen to Manning?

Despite his partial guilty plea, the outcome of the case is still very open-ended. Manning pleaded guilty to 10 charges, which collectively could carry a 20-year prison sentence, but the judge may issue a lesser sentence. The prosecution, meanwhile, is still asking a life sentence for the "aiding the enemy" charge.

Manning also still has the option of entering a plea deal with the government to get a lesser conviction. So far, however, the defense hasn't indicated that this is a possibility.

What Access Will the Public Have?

Public access to the proceedings thus far has been limited. The court initially didn't release any documents, and later only released some heavily redacted documents. In general, the judge has been very deferential to the government's concerns regarding national security and exposing classified materials. Surprisingly, and perhaps paradoxically, all the documents Manning leaked to Wikileaks are still considered classified — although they're readily available online.

In fact, even one of the enemies that Manning is accused of aiding is considered classified. According to Courthouse News the public isn't supposed to know the identity of the third enemy — apart from Al Qaeda and Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula.

To improve access to court proceedings, the Freedom of the Press Foundation has tried to crowdfund a stenographer to ensure transcripts of the hearings are available online. The advocacy group has raised almost $60,000, but their requests for press passes were denied last week. Now, they're asking reporters to lend them their press passes.

Who to Follow for Live Updates From Fort Meade

We'll be following the proceedings from New York, and we'll publish stories whenever there's news. But the trial will be closely followed by many reporters on the ground in Fort Meade. They probably won't be able to live-tweet during proceedings, but some of them have fastidiously tweeted updates during recess and other breaks in prior hearings.

If you want to follow the day-to-day trial proceedings, we recommended the following Twitter users:

Ed Pilkington: U.S. correspondent for British newspaper The Guardian, he has attended most — if not all — the pre-trial hearings to date. He's a reliable source with accurate and timely tweets during the proceedings.

Andy Greenberg: tech reporter at Forbes and author of This Machine Kills Secrets, one of the most thorough and comprehensive books on the Wikileaks saga. He's been following the Wikileaks/Manning story since its very beginning.

Kevin Gosztola: journalist and blogger at FireDogLake, Gozstola has been one of the most tireless reporters covering the Manning trial. He hasn't missed anything and he's written about all that's happened so far.

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